Chicago State Volleyball Set to Start Season at Northern Illinois Friday

The Chicago State volleyball team will open the 2023 season on Friday, August 25, traveling to DeKalb, Illinois to face Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The Huskies are also making their season debut after finishing the 2022 season with a 17-11 record which includes a 10-8 MAC record. CSU finished last season with an 8-15 record and will carry a two-game win streak into the season opener.

The Cougars are a veteran-dominated team led by seniors Yanlis Feliz (6'0" outside hitter), Mesalina Severino (6'1" middle blocker), Maria Fernanda Lopez Torres Tapia (5'10" outside hitter) and Whitney Barnes (5'11" outside hitter). Feliz was the 2021 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, the first such honor for a Chicago State student-athlete and was also named an AVCA All-American (Honorable Mention), becoming the first AVCA All-American in Chicago State history and first All-American for the university since 1987.

Following Friday's match at Northern Illinois, CSU will host the Huskies Sunday, August 27 at 6 p.m. at the Jacoby Dickens Center, site of most of the Cougars 2023 home matches. Chicago State will then host UC Irvine, Jacksonville State and Southeast Missouri State August 31-September 2 before playing their next five matches on the road, highlighted by a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee to face the University of Tennessee on Thursday, September 14.

"I like how this schedule sets up," Cougars head coach Tony Trifonov said. "We have a lot more opportunities to play at home. We have a lot of competitive teams on the schedule. We have three Power 5's, teams out of the MAC, the Big West, Conference USA and the Horizon League, so we'll see a lot of different styles of play."

CSU is scheduled to play at home nine times, including home-and-away matches against Northern Illinois, Western Illinois and Evansville who they will also play in a neutral site match. The Cougars will wrap up the home schedule against Hartford on November 11-12. Chicago State will also play at Milwaukee, West Virginia, New Mexico State and Florida State in the season finale November 17.

"We play Evansville three times and they're a very good team and that will be very challenging for us. Tennessee is very good, they have a lot of transfers, Florida State is a perennial NCAA team every year and West Virginia plays in the Big 12, a competitive conference where last year's national champion, Texas, plays so we know that will be a challenge. I'm excited to get started this week and I'm excited about the team we'll have on the floor this year."

About Chicago State Athletics
Chicago State University Athletics is composed of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. 
 
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